Technified Coffee, Unequal Exchange

Alexander Myers, a graduate research assistant and doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas (KU), presented findings from his dissertation research at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Chicago. Myers has since published an article on The Conversation which also draws from his research.

His topic, "Trading in Crisis: Coffee, Ecological Rift, and Ecologically Unequal Exchange," covers familiar ground for anyone who has followed the fair trade movement since its inception. According to a press release from KU, Myers takes aim at many of the agricultural practices that enable coffee to be produced at volumes to supply commodity markets.

"What we do matters. The choices that we make, the products that we buy have an impact on somebody," Myers said.